The Ellsworth Panthers girls tennis team continued its winning ways last week with victories at home against Baldwin-Woodville on Tuesday, Sept. 6, and against Bloomer and Barron at the Baldwin-Woodville quad on Saturday, Sept. 10.

Those three victories improved Ells- worth’s winning streak to five head-to-head contests, dating back to the Amery match at home on Thursday, Aug. 25. During that time, Ellsworth has relied on the strength of its team – singles competitions.

The highlight of that 5-2 victory against the Blackhawks on Tuesday afternoon was the thrilling #1 singles match between Ellsworth’s Molly Janke and Baldwin-Woodville’s Maggie Jensen. The match lasted more than an hour as Janke and Jensen battled deep into sets before Janke finally secured the vic tory to get Ellsworth on the board.

In the #2 singles match, Baldwin-Woodville’s Charlee Sorenson defeated Ellsworth’s Betsy Foster 7-5 and 6-3 to level the match. However, it was Ellsworth’s #3 and #4 singles of Emily Groen and Bella Friesen who won their respective matches to put the Panthers in the driver’s seat. Ellsworth head coach Brad Baker spoke about the singles players on his roster.

“Molly (Janke) and Besty (Foster) at #1 and #2 are pretty tough to beat,” Baker said. “Emily (Groen) and Bella (Friesen) didn’t have any varsity experience before this, so to see them succeed is great.”

Ellsworth finished o Baldwin-Woodville by taking two out of the three doubles matches. Victories include Mollie Anderson and Maggie Berns winning the #2 doubles and Karissa Kollbaum and Josie Pechacek securing a win in the #3 doubles match. The lone loss was Dayah Halverson and Maria Harrington in the #1 doubles match.

Coach Baker spoke about the challenge of moving up to the #1 doubles slot and how it can be a difficult adjustment for tennis players.

“Our #1 doubles have struggled this year,” Baker said. “They’ve been playing together for two years now and were second in the conference last year at #2 doubles. It can be a big jump to #1 doubles and we haven’t quite got there yet.” After the 5-2 victory against Baldwin-Woodville on Tuesday evening, Ellsworth competed in the Baldwin-Woodville quad on Saturday afternoon. The first match was against the Bloomer Blackhawks. The Panthers quickly disposed of Bloomer by sweeping through all seven matches, including four singles and three doubles contests.

Ellsworth wasn’t done with the brooms, as the Panthers swept Barron 7-0 to secure the aforementioned five-game winning streak. Singles victories include Janke, Foster, Groen and Friesen.

The Panthers’ doubles wins include Halverson and Harrington (#1), Anderson and Berns (#2), and Kollbaum and Pechacek (#3). The early-season experience for the #2 and #3 doubles teams has proved to be in – valuable because both of those duos have made significant improvements this season, according to Baker.

“Our #2 and #3 doubles are improving,” Baker said. “They didn’t have much, if any, varsity experience before this year so it will take some time to keep improving. They played well last night.” The aforementioned Janke has been a valuable player for Baker this season because of her versatility. While she typically occupies the #1 singles slot and will remain there, she has also dabbled in doubles play with varsity basketball teammate Maria Harrington.

Janke’s versatility and raw athleticism as a three-sport athlete separates her from the competition. Baker spoke about Janke and her competition around this side of the state in #1 singles.

“Molly is such a good athlete that she is able to compete at the highest level with a lot of success,” Baker said. “#1 singles is loaded with talent this year. Mondovi has a player who went to state last year. Altoona has a couple of girls that can be their #1 and Osceola has a solid player as well. Not to mention BW also has a good player so it’s going to be interesting at conference tournament time.” The next match on the schedule for the Ellsworth tennis team is on Tuesday, Sept. 13, at Mondovi, where Janke will have a chance to face one of the best players in the state in the #1 singles match. That contest is slated to begin at 4:15 p.m.

Ellsworth junior Maria Harrington serves during her #1 doubles match with teammate Dayah Halverson against Baldwin-Woodville on Tuesday, Sept. 6, in the 5-2 Panthers victory. Photo by Reagan Hoverman